A suction inlet bowl in a submersible pump is a device which represents the fluid input to the pump and is situated between and normally connects the pump motor to the typical pump stages including impellers, diffusers and the like. In order to protect the pump from deleterious particulate material such as large clumps of sand, sticks, chunks of rust from the well casing, and the like often found in the environment in which the pump is working, the inlet to the suction inlet bowl is normally covered by a band-like separate screen-like strainer with small openings therein. Such prior art strainers normally take on the cylindrical shape of the pump and as such come into close contact with the well casing, usually scraping the sides of the well as the pump is being positioned therein. Such close contact and engagement with the walls of the well often dislodges sediments which have built up on the inside of the well casing causing a potential clogging of the strainer even before extensive operation of the pump.
Moreover, even through normal operation the small holes in the strainer often clog up with muck or iron oxide found in the environment of the operation of the pump. Thus, in the prior art the strainer is designed to be removed and either cleaned or replaced. Unfortunately with all prior art designs having such a removable strainer, it must also be removed, even if not clogged, if the motor is to be serviced or replaced. In instances, characterized by some prior art, where the suction bowl is not a separate item but rather an integral part of the motor, the bowl itself cannot be replaced without replacing the motor.
Finally, while adequately protecting the pump from the abrasive materials in the well environment, the prior art strainers with the small holes therein not only tend to clog easily but they also create a high inlet fluid velocity which reduces the efficiency of the pump.